The structural and design requirements for a container or carton may vary considerably depending upon its contents, usage, environment and other factors. Certain other requirements may be common to most such cartons, as for instance the minimization of manufacturing and assembly costs an the provision of structural integrity. One general class of cartons provides a fully closed container assembled from a single blank. Moreover, that class of cartons may be compartmented or noncompartmented. The present invention is concerned with such fully enclosed, compartmented cartons.
One example of a fully enclosed and compartmented container is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,863 to Glasser in which a compartmented fully enclosed egg case is formed from a single blank. However the compartmenting provided by that integral blank provides limited additional structural integrity, and a separate transverse partition is required. Another type of carton, that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,830,697 to Paige, achieves both longitudinal and transverse compartmenting using a single blank, however, the top closure is designed and constructed less for protection of the contents than for display purposes. Other patents which disclose fully enclosed and/or compartmented containers include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,728,449; 2,785,844; 2,880,921; 3,023,945; 3,118,589; 3,208,659; 3,300,116; 3,326,444; 3,456,862; 3,512,695; 3,829,001; 3,836,065; 3,941,302 and 4,019,636.
While these containers fulfill certain requirements, there remains a need to provide a relatively simple, but strong compartmented, fully enclosed container. It is further desirable to provide such a container with the ability to be further subcompartmented with additional discrete compartmenting means.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved compartmented and fully enclosed carton of relatively simple, unitary construction. Included within this object is the provision of a carton which is particularly resistant to compressive forces. It is an additional object to provide such a carton with discrete additional subcompartmenting means.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a fully enclosed, compartmented carton of relatively simple, unitary construction. The carton includes a pair of opposed side walls, a pair of opposed end walls connecting the side walls, a bottom closure, a top closure and compartmenting means for dividing the interior into a plurality of laterally separate compartments. The bottom closure and the top closure are of substantially identical construction and each includes a respective pair of end flaps and a respective pair of side flaps. The end flaps are integrally connected to the respective bottom and top edges of the end walls and foldable respectively upward and downward. Each of the end flaps has at least one longitudinal opening extending from the respective bottom or top edge of the respective end wall only part way to the outer end thereof. Transverse fold lines intersect the respective longitudinal openings in the respective bottom and top end flaps for permitting the portion outwardly thereof to be folded respectively upward and downward. The side flaps are integrally connected to the respective bottom and top edges of the side walls and foldable respectively upward and downward. Each of the side flaps extends more than one-half the width of the carton and has at least one transverse opening extending inward a short distance from the outer end thereof and includes a longitudinal fold line whereby the outer portions of those flaps may be folded respectively upward and downward into the container. The transverse opening in the side flaps are coincident with the respective ones of the fold lines in the respective end flaps and the fold lines in the side flaps are coincident with the respective end flap longitudinal opening such that the outer portions of the side flaps may be folded respectively upward and downward and extend into the container through the respective end flap openings in interlocking relationship therewith. The outer portions of the respective end flaps and the respective side flaps extending upwardly and downwardly into the container provide compartmentation.
In a preferred embodiment, the fold lines in the pairs of top and bottom end flaps and the pairs of top and bottom side flaps are substantially at the longitudinal and transverse medians of the carton respectively such that the flaps of a respective pair are in juxtaposition and the pairs of flaps define four laterally separate contiguous compartments.
The outer portions of both the bottom and the top side flaps extend substantially the full internal height of the carton in juxtaposition with one another to resist vertical compressive forces. Each of the top end flaps includes an access opening through which a finger-like object may be extended to transversely separate the uppermost outer portions of the two juxtaposed bottom side flaps such that the outer portions of both of the top side flaps may be inserted between the separated portions of the bottom side flaps. The outer portions of the pairs of top and bottom end flaps each extend substantially only one-half of the internal height of the compartment in vertical alignment with one another to further resist vertical compressive forces.
Additional compartmentation is provided by separate horizontally oriented panels disposed on the upper ends of the upwardly extending outer portions of the pair of bottom end flaps to further divide the interior of the carton into vertically separate compartments. Vertically oriented support strips are interposed between the panels and both the top closure and the bottom closure for vertically supporting the panels and for further laterally compartmenting the carton.